Halifax Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Oprah Investigates Medical Malpractice

My wife loves the Oprah show. She DVR's the program and watches it (almost) every night. Tonight she asked me to watch todays show about Medical Errors.

100,000 Americans 24,000 Canadians Die Every Year

Oprah and one of her regulars, Dr. Oz turned a spot light on a problem that kills more than 100,000 American's each year, medical malpractice. A study recently published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal determined that up to 24,000 patients in Canadian hospitals die each year and many more left injured as a result of preventable medical errors.

Dennis Quaid Interviewed

Oprah interviewed Dennis Quaid who talked about the ordeal he and his wife went through when their 12 day old twins were overdosed with Heparin.

Smart Patient Checklist

Dr. Oz described a checklist to tell patients what they can do to help prevent them from becoming victims of medical malpractice.

Checklist Prevents Deaths

I have already posted about how a Simple Checklist Helps Prevent Deaths and Complications after Surgery . Certain hospitals have reduced surgical deaths by more than 40% simply by using a checklist before surgery to make sure that they are operating on the correct patient or operating on the right site.

Will the Oprah Effect Kick In?

I hope that the Oprah Effect kicks in after todays show. I believe that medical malpractice is one of the most serious, yet under reported, health problems in North America. The problem is that most people who suffer a medical error have no idea they may have been the victim of medical malpractice.

Doctors Don't Have to Disclose Errors!

Unbelievably, there is no law in Canada that requires doctors, nurses, or hospitals to tell patients when they have been the victim of medical malpractice.

Want to know what to do if you think you have been a victim of medical malpractice? Keep reading...

Continue reading " Medical Malpractice and "The Oprah Effect" " »

Can you believe this?!

There are doctors who are forcing patients to sign a contract promising not to criticize the doctor, "his expertise and/or treatment."

No signature-No medical care

If the patients won’t sign the contract, the doctors won’t treat them.

I will ask again: Can you flippin’ believe this?!

Doctors don't like online reviews

The contracts are in response to websites that are springing up around the internet that allow patients to post reviews about their doctors. Doctors don’t like the fact that the websites allow patients to post negative comments, but doctors have no way to respond without breaching patient confidentiality.

Blackmail?

So they have resorted to blackmail. Sign the paper or don’t get medical care!

Can you believe this?!

Patients come to their doctors when they are sick, afraid and vulnerable. If you needed medical care and a doctor shoved a piece of paper in front of you and said: “Sign it or find another doctor” what would you do? I think most people would sign anything in order to get the medical care they need.

One of the websites doctors are concerned about is RateMDs.com. Co-founder John Swapceinski, said that in recent months, six doctors have asked him to remove negative online comments based on patients' signed waivers. He has refused.

"They're basically forcing the patients to choose between health care and their First Amendment rights, and I really find that repulsive," Swapceinski said.

I agree. It is repulsive…and I think it is also a violation of doctor’s fiduciary duty to their patients.

What about the Hippocratic Oath?

Perhaps the doctors that are using these contracts have forgotten their Hippocratic oath. When taking the oath, that deals with the ethical practice of medicine, doctors promise: “ To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority.”
Perhaps they need to add “…unless the patient complains about me.”

What Happened to Freedom of Speech?

Admittedly these types of online reviews are unscientific and subjective. But why shouldn’t patients have the right to express their opinions (as long as they aren’t slanderous)? Why shouldn’t people have the opportunity to hear what other patients have said about the specialist they have been referred to?

So what do you think?

As a public service here are some of the online doctor reviews that I could find:

Rate MD's

Doctor Reviews Online

My Doc Hub

Angies List

Related posts:

You Can File a Complaint About Your Doctor!